Detection of Klebsiella spp. in Some Spices Taken from Local Markets

Spices are becoming increasingly important world-wide due to their effectiveness as natural antibiotics, the thing that makes the world nowadays tend to use spices instead of chemical drugs. However, this doesn’t mean they are free of some dangerous pathogens such as Klebsiella spp. which can lead to a wide range of illnesses, notably pneumonia, urinary tract infections (UTIs), and bacteremia. Although we don’t know the natural habitat of this bacterium we find that it thrives in herbs and spices, concluding thus that plants may be its natural habitat. The primary isolation of this bacterium was based first on its growth on general media and then isolation on selective media. Colonies of the microorganisms were counted on different media then Klebsiella was isolated from a selective media. The isolated colonies of Klebsiella were circular, dome-shaped, 3-4 mm in diameter, with mucoid sticky edges, and surrounded by capsule. After this we chose the typical colony and identified it using Polymerase chain reaction PCR and biochemical tests. Our results showed that 32% of examined specimen contained Klebsiella spp.

Determination of Copper and Zinc levels in some spices in local market

The concentrations of Copper (Cu) and Zinc (Zn) in samples of some spices available at some local markets in Syria were determined, after nitric digestion, using Atomic Absorption Spectrometry. The study showed differences in metal concentrations according to the edible part. Studied heavy metals were present in all samples at different levels. The concentration of Copper (Cu) and Zinc varied from trace to higher concentration. The maximum level of Copper (Cu) in the spices samples was 0.668 mg/kg. The maximum level of Zinc (Zn) in the spices samples was 2.523mg/kg. The analytical results obtained for the heavy metals indicate that the Copper and Zinc were present in all samples at concentration well below the acceptable daily intake recommended by the World Health Organization.

Isolation of Enterobacter sakazakii from Some Spices

Enterobacter sakazakii is considered an opportunistic pathogen that has been associated with severe lethal infections especially in neonates, elderly, and Immunocompromised adults. E. sakazakii is a Gram negative, facultative anaerobes rod-shaped bacterium. It belongs to the family Enterobacteriaceae and genus Enterobacter. Although we don’t know the natural habitat of this bacteria we find that it exists in high rate in herbs and spices which indicates that plant may be this natural habitat.